The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is a surprise package with top-tier gaming keyboard features without the inflated retail price. Its magnetic Hall Effect switches offer analog control, adjustable actuation, and rapid trigger modes that all combine to provide incredible performance and lots of customization. Those aren’t unique features but they’re often not available at this price. It’s just a shame about this keyboard’s slightly odd design.
Pros
Adjustable actuation between 0.1mm and 4mm
Rapid trigger
Low price versus competitors
Great fluid feel and low noise output
Swarm II software is easy to use
Cons
T-shaped abs keycaps aren’t my preference
Not hot-swappable
Cheap feeling build quality
After acquiring and shuttering the Roccat brand, Turtle Beach has steadily been reworking the old German brand's PC peripherals, with the Vulcan II TKL Pro the latest to get that treatment. Although it looks similar to the old Vulcan TKL Pro, there's a surprising amount of change packed in to this new keyboard, with the most prominent addition being its Hall Effect switches that revolutionize its gaming utility.
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The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is a resolutely gaming-focused keyboard with its Hall Effect magnetic switches offering per-key adjustable actuation between 0.1mm and 4mm. It also has rapid trigger, a feature that allows for a new keypress to be activated as soon as the previous one is released.
It comes exclusively in a TKL layout, meaning you don't get a number pad, but you do get F keys and cursor keys, unlike with ultra-compact 60% and 65% boards such as the Endgame Gear KB65HE. Meanwhile, the full-size Vulcan II and Vulcan II mini boards are non-Pro versions that don't include these adjustable switches.
Turtle Beach has added its Easy Shift feature to this board, which allows you to hold the caps lock to activate a secondary layer of inputs across the keyboard and even your mouse, should it be compatible, as it is with the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini and many other keyboards.
This keyboard has AIMO intelligent lighting, Turtle Beach's equivalent to Razer Chroma or Logitech's Lightsync, meaning any compatible RGB Turtle Beach peripherals can be unified to display the same lighting pattern.
While the switches are not hot-swappable, you can replace the keycaps on the Vulcan II TKL Pro with third-party ones. As for media controls, the TKL Pro features only a volume dial with a push-to-mute feature.
Design
As much as I've become a fan of the Vulcan II TKL Pro's performance in my time with it, and its value is undeniable, I'm still struggling to get on with its design. The board uses low-profile, T-shaped keycaps, meaning most of the switch below the cap is exposed, leading to a lot of light bleeding – there's seemingly a very good reason why most enthusiast keycap stores don't have many if any replacement keycaps of this style.
Elsewhere, the board does little to create a sturdy package, with no top plate surrounding the keys, gasket mounting for the switches, or foam/silicone layers to dampen the sound, although it's already quite quiet at around 48dB when recorded from a 20cm distance. These are crucial design elements for other boards that target customization and longevity, and the Vulcan II TKL Pro feels flimsy and cheap as a result.
However, a lot of this comes down to personal preference, and you may look at the Vulcan II TKL Pro and see a board that appeals to your tastes, and that's perfectly fine. It may also be that the internal structure of the board was left simple to keep the price of the board competitive. If this is the case I believe it was a smart move given that its performance is fantastic.
Performance
Gaming and typing with the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is a breeze. Despite my issues with how it looks, I've encountered no issues with the performance, which I would place on par with the likes of the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini and Akko MOD 007B.
A big part of this is the fluidity of the Hall Effect linear switches. Their actuation force is undefined by Turtle Beach, but I would place it on the lower end of the scale, around the 35-40g mark. Pair this with the per-key adjustable actuation and rapid trigger features and you've got an incredibly responsive, customizable gaming keyboard that's suitable for any situation.
Until you go hands-on with a keyboard featuring rapid trigger, it can seem like a bit of a gimmick, but it's far from it. In twitch-reaction games where every input counts, such as Valorant, League of Legends, or DOTA 2, this feature can be a lifesaver as you never need to worry about quickfire inputs being missed. As long as there is some form of upward movement in the switch, it's primed and ready to go again.
Pairing this with adjustable actuation to make the Vulcan II Pro TKL as sensitive as possible does feel like a cheat code, and that's why we're rapidly coming to consider these features as the new standard in gaming keyboards.
One of my primary concerns with T-shaped keycaps is the fear that if I catch a key at the wrong angle, it could potentially snag, or something could get caught underneath them, leading to missed inputs or disruption to the flow of typing. Thankfully this isn't the case and while they may not be my design preference, I can't fault the T-shaped keys in practice.
Playing around in the Swarm II software to customize the actuation points and key bindings is simple. I would personally place Swarm II among the better peripheral software suits I've used due to its clear layout, simple-to-use interface, and how, unlike the likes of Razer Synapse, it doesn't need to be updated every few days.
Five onboard profiles mean it's easy to set up a few different layouts to cover most of the games you'll play, and you'll even have room for a less-sensitive typing profile too should you desire.
Price
The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro has an MSRP of $149.99 and is available from the Turtle Beach website as well as Amazon and Best Buy, amongst others. This is a fantastic starting price when looking at the wider market because you could pay as much as $60 more for a similar board.
Alternatives
SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini
If you're looking for a mini keyboard that packs in all the same features as the Vulcan II TKL Pro, but does so in a way that ensures you don't feel like you're losing keystrokes, the Apex Pro Mini is a fantastic option. It has pre-baked layers of key functions to ensure that despite the limited keys, you can still do everything you can on a TKL or full-size keyboard, all while saving on desk space.
Akko MOD007B
For a keyboard that is virtually identically in its feature set, but with a drastically different design, the Akko MOD007B is a fair alternative to the Vulcan II TKL Pro. One advantage it does have over the Turtle Beach board is wireless compatibility, and it does this while sitting at the same MRSP, although the Akko brand has less name recognition.
Verdict
The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is a fantastic gaming keyboard that includes the core features that we consider ever more essential for a gaming keyboard but opts for a design that might see it overlooked by many.
Adjustable actuation and rapid trigger are slowly becoming key features for gamers, and while Turtle Beach has inherited a strong pedigree from Roccat, plenty of other brands, such as Razer, Logitech, and SteelSeries, all have greater reputations and a better approach to design which is where the Vulcan II TKL falls short.
